By Hannah Zaic

As fans, judges, and musicians, anxiously await the start of the show in the Hard Rock Cafe’s dimly lit dining room, the mood is excited, perhaps even optimistic. Patrons, expecting just dinner with a side of rock & roll relic, are pleasantly surprised by a bonus concert by some of Philly’s best country and folk artists.

Tonight’s leg of the city-wide battle of  PHL LIVE Center Stage will be judged by three of the most influential figures in the Philadelphia music scene: That Mag publisher, Brian Cronin; Executive Director of the Philadelphia Folksong Society, Justin Nordell; and WXTU Music Director and Radio Personality, Mark Razz.

Before shifting their full attention on the PHL LIVE country and folk finalists, the judges could be found socializing at the marble slab bar, catching up with fans, friends, and other individuals, sipping drinks, and trading war stories from the grueling music industry. The finalists performing this night were Man About a Horse, Ami Yares, Alex Mery & the Townsmen, Jessica Graae and Black Horse Motel.

You can log onto iRadioPhilly to see the highlights and to listen to the performances.

Our master of ceremonies is the illustrious Jennifer Logue of Rock On Philly. Logue is the first talent to take the stage before our finalists join her one-by-one for a discreet and organized mic check.  

It was a great night to be in Center City and regardless of the competitive nature of the event, everyone in the room was eager to show why our arts community is unlike any other in the world. Simply put, fans, judges, and musicians came for a friendly competition, but also stuck around to cheer each other on.

This display of mutual respect between artists, to and from the fans, is right in line with what PHL LIVE’s creator, Philadelphia Councilman-at-Large, David Oh, first imagined for the contest. During its second run, the multi-venue, genre-crossing event series is bigger and better than ever and shows no sign of slowing down.  

That Mag was lucky enough to sit down and talk with the councilman between acts. Otherwise, for most of the evening, he could be found at one of the tables near the stage, enjoying great music, as well as a few jokes told by our finalists and MC.

You wouldn’t think that a Republican Councilman would be inspired to create a music events series as successful as PHL LIVE. However, after attending a film festival, Councilman Oh was inspired and wondered if his music series should be structured similarly to the film festival.

Unlike most inaugural music festivals, adding a competitive spin would attract a fair amount of local, independent artists who are actually paid for their work. Since 2011, Councilman Oh has been bringing his notoriety (and cash) to local artists, while also serving as our city’s first Asian-American elected official! How cool is that?!

The culmination of 2017’s contest is going to be the PHL LIVE Awards Show held at the Trocadero, tonight, December 15th. For those of you looking to get involved next year, there are ten genres you could compete in for the grand prizes, which are as follows:

ANNOUNCING PHL LIVE CENTER STAGE

Coor’s Light Presents PHL LIVE Center Stage: 2017 Prizes

Grand Prizes for each of the 10 music category winners and the People’s Choice winner:

1. $1,000.00 for each of th 11 winners (total of $11,000.00 in prize money)
2. City Council Citation awarded to each of the 11 winners at the Awards Show in December at the Trocadero Theater
3. Resolution presented to the group of 11 winners in City Council

(You can find more information about PHL LIVE’s 2017 finalists, terms, conditions and prizes at www.phllive.org.)

Since the finalists are beating out so many other acts to play for a judge’s panel of industry heavyweights, the concerts held around the city at stellar venues like Milkboy #1 & #2, The World Cafe Live and The Hard Rock Cafe are guaranteed to be Philly local talent at its best. Better get out there and see them play before they aren’t so local anymore!

Here is to another epic year with PHL LIVE and to many, many more to come. Onwards, to the Trocadero!

Want to make a difference while also jamming out to some amazing music? This Saturday the third annual Winter Doldrums Music Festival will bring twelve hours of music to World Cafe Live in Philadelphia to raise awareness and funding for mental health issues and suicide prevention. All proceeds from the event will go to benefit the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention – Greater Philadelphia Chapter. The WXPN and Turtle Studios sponsored event is in its third year to help raise awareness about a health issue that is often overlooked.

Did you know that suicide causes more deaths per year than any other illness except for heart disease and cancer? Many of the individuals who die by suicide have a mental or emotional disorder. These individuals deserve the respect and understanding and most importantly, a healthcare system that treats their illnesses with the same urgency as those who have physical illnesses receive.

One of the organizers of the event, Michele Lynn, lost her son to suicide on September 29, 2013. Michele explained, “My hope is that the Winter Doldrums Music Festival, by raising awareness and funding for suicide prevention, can save at least one life and one family’s massive grief.  If we can do that, then we’ve succeeded.”

The event is hosted by Mark Rogers of 93.7 FM WSTW Hometown Heroes, Charlie Silvestri of Up Close and Acoustic syndicated show and podcast, and Ian Zolitor of G-town’s Radio’s Bridging The Gap. The music festival will feature 20 bands such as The Rent-A-Cops, Divers, No Good Sister, Kicking Down Doors, Swing That Cat, Christine Havrilla & Gypsy Fuzz, Black Horse Motel, Andrea Nardello, and many, many more.

The festival will also hold a silent auction with items from the bands with memorabilia, and other music related items as well as live painting by Frank Kolbmann who will donate the art to the silent auction.

And no worries, this event is all ages and begins at noon on February 7th. Tickets for the festival are $18.00 in advance and $21.00 at the door (plus service charges).